September 23, 2025

Longitudinal Analysis of Respiratory Syncytial Virus in Children During and After COVID-19 Pandemic: Shifts in Seasonality and Disease Burden

Key Points

RSV positivity peaked at 37.83% in 2021, indicating significant changes in disease patterns.
Disease burden shifted toward infants aged 7–12 months, impacting health care strategies post-COVID-19.
Mid-study phases showed mechanical ventilation was required in some severe cases, previously not observed pre-pandemic.
Non-pharmaceutical interventions appear to have fundamentally altered RSV epidemiology and seasonal dynamics.

Abstract

Abstract Background Non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs) against COVID-19 globally altered RSV seasonality, yet longitudinal evidence on age-specific severity changes remains scarce in China. Methods In this hospital-based surveillance study, 21,744 children hospitalized with acute respiratory infections (ARI) were enrolled. RSV was detected via RT-PCR across three phases: pre-pandemic (2017–2019), NPIs implementation (2020–2022), and post-NPIs (2023–2024). Results RSV positivity varied significantly between phases (p p p = 0.85). Conclusion NPIs fundamentally reshaped RSV epidemiology, inducing seasonal shifts and redirecting disease burden toward older infants experiencing delayed primary infection due to "immune debt."

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Cite This Study

Gu et al. (Mon,) studied this question.

synapsesocial.com/papers/68d4724f31b076d99fa6ac25 https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-7525392/v1

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